Post by EagleGene on Dec 12, 2005 9:44:26 GMT -5
Undefeated NFL Colts dump Jaguars to reach 13-0
December 12, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, United States (AFP) - Peyton Manning threw two touchdown passes to Marvin Harrison and the Indianapolis Colts continued their unbeaten American football march with a 26-18 victory over Jacksonville here.
Indianapolis became only the fourth club in the 86-year National Football League history to reach 13-0, joining the 1934 Chicago Bears, 1972 Miami Dolphins and 1998 Denver Broncos. Only Miami reached 14-0.
The Colts moved within three triumphs of completing a perfect regular season and clinched the AFC South division crown as well as a home-field edge in January's National Football League playoffs.
Manning completed an 11-play, 89-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Harrison to open the scoring and found Harrison again on a 65-yard touchdown connection 5:39 into the second quarter as the Colts seized a 14-3 lead.
"We can go one-and-done like that. Or we can drag it out," Manning said.
Manning completed 24-of-36 passes for 324 yards and the two touchdowns for Harrison, who caught six passes for 137 yards in a game they led 26-3 before the Jaguars made the final score tight in the closing minutes.
"I don't think we're as sharp as we can be but we're definitely headed in the right direction," Harrison said.
Mike Vanderjagt, who has made 19-of-20 field goal kicks this year, connected from 40 yards on the final play of the second quarter to give the Colts a 17-3 edge at the break and added kicks from 34, 38 and 46 yards in the second half.
Josh Scobee's 27-yard field goal early in the second quarter brought the Jaguars (9-4) their only points until David Garrard's five-yard touchdown run and one-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Smith in the final minutes trimmed the final margin. But the Colts took the ball and ran out the clock.
"The guys really fought all the way through the end and they kept fighting," said Garrard, who completed 26-of-35 passes for 250 yards.
"I thought it was real important for us to get close at the end. I think the confidence of the whole team got better."
The Colts hope to match the 1972 Dolphins by making an undefeated run to a title, a feat that will require victories over San Diego (8-4), Seattle (10-2) and Arizona (4-8) plus three post-season victories, the last at Super Bowl 40 in Detroit on February 5.
"Are they unbeatable? I don't think so," Jaguars defensive end Reggie Hayward said. "They're proving me wrong so far, but they have some tough games coming up, and we'll see."
With little else but history at stake in the next three games and a concern over avoiding injuries that could haunt must-win playoff games, there is a question how much playing time the Colts' stars will see in the coming weeks.
"They all want to keep playing and they want to keep trying to win," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "We're going to do everything we can to beat San Diego and we're not going to look ahead from there.
"Beyond next week, we'll see what happens. Next week is a game we want to win, and we definitely want to play well at home.
"This is not the time to shut it down."
The Broncos (10-3) won their ninth game in a row, edging Baltimore 12-10 to stretch their AFC West division lead to two games over Kansas City and San Diego, both losers in key games against rival playoff hopefuls.
Jake Plummer completed 19-of-33 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown while Denver's defense forced four Ravens turnovers.
Drew Bledsoe hit Dan Campbell on a one-yard scoring pass with 22 seconds remaining to give Dallas a 31-28 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, leaving both clubs 8-5 and fighting for the last playoff spots in their conferences.
Miami's Chris Chambers caught two third-quarter touchdown passes to edge San Diego 23-21. The Dolphins remained two games behind reigning Super Bowl champion New England (8-5), which routed Buffalo 35-7.
Cincinnati improved to 10-3 with a 23-20 comeback victory over Cleveland but Pittsburgh ended a three-game losing streak and stayed two games off the Bengals' pace with a 21-9 victory over Chicago, snapping the Bears' eight-game win streak.
Tampa Bay rookie Carnell Williams ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Buccaneers past host Carolina 20-10 as the visitors matched the Panthers atop the NFC South at 9-4.
Seattle rose to 11-2, second only to the Colts and in position to claim a home-field edge on the path to the Super Bowl, by routing San Francisco 41-3.
Osi Umenyiora forced an over-time fumble that Kendrick Allen recovered to set up Jay Feely's 36-yard field goal with 3:55 remaining in over-time to give the New York Giants a 26-23 victory Philadelphia.
The Giants stayed one game ahead of Dallas and two games atop Washington, which edged Arizona 17-13.
Other games saw Tennessee edge Houston 13-10, the New York Jets rout Oakland 26-10 and Minnesota defeat St. louis 27-13.
Updated on Monday, Dec 12, 2005 8:12 am EST
December 12, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, United States (AFP) - Peyton Manning threw two touchdown passes to Marvin Harrison and the Indianapolis Colts continued their unbeaten American football march with a 26-18 victory over Jacksonville here.
Indianapolis became only the fourth club in the 86-year National Football League history to reach 13-0, joining the 1934 Chicago Bears, 1972 Miami Dolphins and 1998 Denver Broncos. Only Miami reached 14-0.
The Colts moved within three triumphs of completing a perfect regular season and clinched the AFC South division crown as well as a home-field edge in January's National Football League playoffs.
Manning completed an 11-play, 89-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Harrison to open the scoring and found Harrison again on a 65-yard touchdown connection 5:39 into the second quarter as the Colts seized a 14-3 lead.
"We can go one-and-done like that. Or we can drag it out," Manning said.
Manning completed 24-of-36 passes for 324 yards and the two touchdowns for Harrison, who caught six passes for 137 yards in a game they led 26-3 before the Jaguars made the final score tight in the closing minutes.
"I don't think we're as sharp as we can be but we're definitely headed in the right direction," Harrison said.
Mike Vanderjagt, who has made 19-of-20 field goal kicks this year, connected from 40 yards on the final play of the second quarter to give the Colts a 17-3 edge at the break and added kicks from 34, 38 and 46 yards in the second half.
Josh Scobee's 27-yard field goal early in the second quarter brought the Jaguars (9-4) their only points until David Garrard's five-yard touchdown run and one-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Smith in the final minutes trimmed the final margin. But the Colts took the ball and ran out the clock.
"The guys really fought all the way through the end and they kept fighting," said Garrard, who completed 26-of-35 passes for 250 yards.
"I thought it was real important for us to get close at the end. I think the confidence of the whole team got better."
The Colts hope to match the 1972 Dolphins by making an undefeated run to a title, a feat that will require victories over San Diego (8-4), Seattle (10-2) and Arizona (4-8) plus three post-season victories, the last at Super Bowl 40 in Detroit on February 5.
"Are they unbeatable? I don't think so," Jaguars defensive end Reggie Hayward said. "They're proving me wrong so far, but they have some tough games coming up, and we'll see."
With little else but history at stake in the next three games and a concern over avoiding injuries that could haunt must-win playoff games, there is a question how much playing time the Colts' stars will see in the coming weeks.
"They all want to keep playing and they want to keep trying to win," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "We're going to do everything we can to beat San Diego and we're not going to look ahead from there.
"Beyond next week, we'll see what happens. Next week is a game we want to win, and we definitely want to play well at home.
"This is not the time to shut it down."
The Broncos (10-3) won their ninth game in a row, edging Baltimore 12-10 to stretch their AFC West division lead to two games over Kansas City and San Diego, both losers in key games against rival playoff hopefuls.
Jake Plummer completed 19-of-33 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown while Denver's defense forced four Ravens turnovers.
Drew Bledsoe hit Dan Campbell on a one-yard scoring pass with 22 seconds remaining to give Dallas a 31-28 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, leaving both clubs 8-5 and fighting for the last playoff spots in their conferences.
Miami's Chris Chambers caught two third-quarter touchdown passes to edge San Diego 23-21. The Dolphins remained two games behind reigning Super Bowl champion New England (8-5), which routed Buffalo 35-7.
Cincinnati improved to 10-3 with a 23-20 comeback victory over Cleveland but Pittsburgh ended a three-game losing streak and stayed two games off the Bengals' pace with a 21-9 victory over Chicago, snapping the Bears' eight-game win streak.
Tampa Bay rookie Carnell Williams ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Buccaneers past host Carolina 20-10 as the visitors matched the Panthers atop the NFC South at 9-4.
Seattle rose to 11-2, second only to the Colts and in position to claim a home-field edge on the path to the Super Bowl, by routing San Francisco 41-3.
Osi Umenyiora forced an over-time fumble that Kendrick Allen recovered to set up Jay Feely's 36-yard field goal with 3:55 remaining in over-time to give the New York Giants a 26-23 victory Philadelphia.
The Giants stayed one game ahead of Dallas and two games atop Washington, which edged Arizona 17-13.
Other games saw Tennessee edge Houston 13-10, the New York Jets rout Oakland 26-10 and Minnesota defeat St. louis 27-13.
Updated on Monday, Dec 12, 2005 8:12 am EST
